Road's danger comes to light

Residents of the Oasis Mobile Home Park near Des Plaines say they worry about children trying to cross busy Elmhurst Road to play in an open field, a recipe for tragedies like the one Wednesday when a 10-year-old boy was struck and killed as he rode his bike.

"I see kids going across [Elmhurst Road] all the time," said Kristen Breden, 24, a resident of the mobile home park. "Riding their bikes or just running. It's not safe. When it's rush hour, it's so, so busy."

The victim, Jimmy Alanis, lived in the park at 7500 Elmhurst Rd., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Relatives of the boy could not be reached Thursday, a rainy day that had many residents shaking their heads about the circumstances of the child's death.

He was hit south of the Interstate Highway 90 interchange at Elmhurst, north of Touhy Avenue, in unincorporated Cook County.

The boy was taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, where he was pronounced dead at 7:50 p.m. Wednesday.

"There's no reason to believe this was anything other than just a horrible accident," said Steve Patterson of the sheriff's police.

The boy was heading toward the field where residents say children from the mobile home park often play soccer. He was not crossing at an intersection or crossing, police said.

Jimmy made it across the northbound lanes as a semi truck and a van, riding side-by-side, approached in the southbound lanes. The truck driver hit his brakes and turned toward the median to avoid the child. But with the truck blocking his view, the driver of the van, a 65-year-old man from Des Plaines, apparently couldn't see the boy and struck him, authorities said.

The drivers of both vehicles stopped to check on the boy's condition, and one called 911, police said.

No citations were issued, police said, though toxicology tests were administered to the van driver.

Authorities Thursday were unable to provide statistics on the number of accidents at that location.

The speed limit there is 45 m.p.h. Police said the vehicles were traveling at or under the limit.

Another resident of the mobile home park, Dana Sanders, 40, said a friend of her 15-year-old son's was struck on the road about four years ago, an accident that wasn't fatal, she said.